Kuwait's foreign minister on Wednesday rejected Iraq's criticism of the maritime border agreement the emirate signed with Saudi Arabia, saying the accord had nothing to do with Baghdad.

"The accord is between Kuwait and Saudi Arabia and does not concern Iraq or any other country," Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah told Al-Watan newspaper.

"Iraq's position on this issue will be determined in the future after negotiations and agreement (have been completed) between Kuwait and Iran," Sheikh Sabah said.

Baghdad on Tuesday contested the joint maritime agreement, charging that it transgressed international law by not taking into consideration Baghdad's "legitimate interests", though these remained unspecified.

Al-Qabas newspaper quoted an unnamed senior Kuwaiti official as saying that "Kuwait will in no way ignore the legitimate rights of any neighboring state, including Iraq, in the continental shelf."

But the official added "any dispute on the continental shelf that may surface in the future would be between Iraq and Iran, and not with Kuwait because Iraqi-Kuwaiti borders were demarcated by the UN in 1993."

Kuwait and Saudi Arabia signed an agreement on July 2nd covering a maritime border that runs through an area of the northern Gulf rich in oil and gas, to which Iran also has a claim.

Sheikh Sabah said on Sunday he expects no obstacle in striking a similar deal with Iran. The emirate's oil minister, Sheikh Saud Nasser al-Sabah, is due in Tehran on July 24th for border talks - KUWAIT CITY (AFP)